Wednesday, July 16, 2014

As a crafter, I've never been very free-form. One of the things that appealed to me about knitting when I reached adulthood was the abundance of clear, well-written patterns that could guide me through any technique I was curious about. As a major consumer of patterns over the years, I started to notice little errors here and there that aren't always covered in errata. I think we've all had that feeling when we've read a sentence over and over again, trying to figure out if we just weren't understanding the author or there is an actual misprint.

I know for me, when I go to write something for work or draft a blog post, I feel confident in my ability to communicate. I like to edit as I go and am usually pretty satisfied with the result. But once I send that work to someone else to review, they almost always catch something (sometimes big, sometimes small) that will improve my message. Two sets of eyes are usually better than one.

That's why when Allyson asked me to test knit for the Holla Knits Home Collection, I was excited. When she gave me Excelsior (her newest pattern) to review, I was thrilled. Excelsior is my kind of project. I've never meet fingering weight colorwork I didn't love and I wanted to see how the construction of fabric around glass would come together. Needless to say, I cast on immediately.

I've been a Holla Knits subscriber from its inception, so I know that Allyson's work is always clear, professional and relatable. The fact that I always have miles of Knit Picks Palette on hand helped me dive into this project right away. As I knit along, I ended up only having two small notes about the pattern - a color square in the chart needed to be flipped and the WS and RS needed to be swapped in the instructions at one point. And for four days of totally enjoyable work, I was finished with my own custom art project! (You can check out the finished project on my Ravelry Project Page. Add it to your faves, why don't ya?)

It just photographs so well, don't you think? I'm always looking for unique gift ideas and now that I know how quickly this project comes together and how expertly the pattern is written, you better believe my friends and family will be sporting some Excelsiors on their walls very soon.

It wouldn't be a proper blog tour without a GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment below to win a free copy of Excelsior for your very own.